SOME AMERICAN RECOMMENDATIONS.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6905, 10 November 1887, Page 6

SOME AMERICAN RECOMMENDATIONS.

The Annual Report of the American Dβ, partment of Agriculture contaius son» papers that are worth republiahing. w! George Vasey, botanist of the departmaai gives the following:— HINTS ON KILLING "WEEDS. "1. Plants cannot live indefinitely d» prived of their leaves. Hence preventine their appearance above the surface wm kill them sooner or later. 2 " Plants have greater need for their leaves, and can be more easily killediathe growing season than when partialh dormant. "3. Cultivation in a dry time is moat ia. jurious to weeds and beneficial to crops. "4. Avoid the introduction of weeds fo manure or Utter or from weedy surround, ings. Some gardeners use no stable manure on grounds they desire to keep especially clean, relying on commercial fertilizers and the ploughing uafat of green crops. " 5. After a summer crop has ripened instead of allowing the land to grow up to weeds it is often well to sow rye or some other crop to cover the ground and keep them down. "6, Give every part of the farm clean cultivation every few years, either with i> hoed crop, or, i£ necessary, with a fallow, "7. It is often stated that cutting weeds while in flower will kill them. Thi9 ]g only reliable with biennials, and with them only when done ao late that much of the seed will grow. "8. If the ground is kept well occupied with other crops weeds will give much less trouble. Keep meadows and roadsides well seeded and plough-hind eoltt* vated, except when shaded by crops," INJUnroCS FtTNGI. F. L. Scribner, Mycologist, summarize! as below a class of facts whose importance is rapidly growing in public estimation, and on which a vast increase of knowledge is to bo hoped for in the coming years:— -

" The fungi which infest our cultivated plants, and not infrequently cause their total destruction, vie with the insect tribes in numbers as well as in the extest of the losses they occasion, and the trassformations they undergo in their development are equally complex and often even more difficult to follow. They are, for the most part, so small, and the metamorphoses they undergo so obscure, as to call for the greatest amount of patience and the closest study in order to obtain any satisfactory knowledge of their natural history, andin spite of all oar efforts there will naturally remain many points which must be left to conjecture.

"That these fungi,-which make themselves manifest in the plant diseases familiarly known as ' smut, , 4 mildew,' 'blight,' &x., are true, vegetable parasites; that they are governed by the same laws'which control all living organisms; and that they are propagated by specially developed reproductive bodies called spores, are fundamental truths to be kept constantly in mind in studying this subject. There is no such thing ib spontaneous generation among these parasites, and whenever a fungus appeus it is as certain that it was preceded by a spore as that the oak came from an acorn, and, further, that the germination ot the acorn, and spore was only effected by surroundings and conditions favourable to its accomplishment. We have a pretty tali knowledge of whet these conditions arc in the one case, bat simply because those in the other are not so well understood we must not deny their existence. " In order to make an intelligent nee of ! remedies for checking or preventing the ravages occasioned by injurious fnngj, which is the primary and ultimate object of the work of this section, it is manifestly essential to gain a complete know), ledge of their nature and habits. To accomplish this will require much time and research." THE EKLGISH SPAKBOW. ' Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ormthologtat» declares that " the English sparrow is • curse of such virulence that it ought to be systematically attacked and dwtitjw Def ore ife beeomea necessaay to deplete the public treasury for the porpose, *J to> been done in other-countries." Hβ therefore advises— 44 L The immediate-repeal of att existing laws which afford protection to tte sparrow. ' SL The enactmentof laws legalising U* killing of the sparrow at all seasons of w year, and the destruction ofiite nests, eggs* and young. # 3. The enactment of laws rneXing « • misdemeanor, punishable by fine or toprlsoament, or boto-<a) to IntentfonaßT give food or shelter to the sparrow, e«ej* with a view toiUwiltfanatedestruction; V to introduce or aid in introducing it«"° new ere with pe*"* means, or appliances engaged/_*"" designed for, Ite-deetrnetion orfibe destruction of its-nests, eggs, or young. 4. The enactment of lawe protectta* w> great northern enrike or butcher •**«» sparrow hawk, and tt»s»eech owl,««" species feed largely oh the spanof., & Theeoactment<of laws provMU*** the appointment of at least t> ll6 P**" holding civil office, preferably the g*B» constable, wterejracb. officer exlstVff*? town or railage, who shall nerve wHOo» additionatcompensatfon, and w*"»» ™?» it shall be to destroy or bring aW» *» destruction of sparrows in the parks and other places where tte w» not permitted. townsandcitiee this office rdgJ» MTSJ imposed upoathe-commfasioiiers of Jβ""

ItisnotexpetUentto offer the destruction of sparrows. the present time it is dcsfaM«» "T perfecay feasible, to bring tixxA reduction in their" ranks by ' «"*?* action of the people, aided by bel^ 0 lation, without drawing upon v* purse." - _